The Woolsack

Cecil John Rhodes commissioned Sir Herbert Baker to work with him on a project to build a residence. Rhodes’s only instruction to Baker in respect of the house was that he “should not be ‘mean’. Rhodes intended that this residence be used by succeeding generations of writers and artists visiting South Africa because “if they live in beautiful surroundings they will be better inspired to interpret through their art of the beauty and grandeur of the country.”

Baker and Rhodes visited Rondebosch to select a site for a house. What they found was an already existing dwelling that was falling into disrepair.

The house had originally been built by Jacob Eksteen, owner of ‘Zorgvliet’. This property stretched from the banks of the Liesbeek River to the lower slopes of Devil’s Peak. The history of Zorgvliet dates back to the early days of the Dutch settlement in the Cape. It was one of the original farms granted in 1657. The name Woolsack is said to have been decided when a neighbour with whom Eksteen was friendly called his house. ‘Wolmunster (a sample of wool’)  Eksteen said “Mine will be the sack from which it comes.”’ So he named his home ‘Woolsack’. It was described as a large, roomy, thatch-roofed house hidden away in thick forests. A series of tragedies however struck, including a great fire in 1880 in which Zorgvliet was destroyed. The estate was sold and broken up. Three portions of the estate were transferred to Rhodes.

The residence, with its interesting mixture of Cape Dutch and neo-classical features, was Rebuilt. Baker got the ‘The Woolsack’ ready during 1900, re-designing the house around an open atrium, until there was very little left of the original.

 The house was first occupied by Rudyard Kipling and his family.  Kipling was an English writer who was born in India, The Kiplings spent their (South African) summers at the Woolsack from 1900 to 1908. A little-known fact is that while staying at the Woolsack, Rudyard Kipling  raised a lion cub there by the name of Sullivan

Woolsack is now a postgraduate residence for students of the University of Cape Town)

Geolocation -33° 57′ 18″, 18° 28′ 1.2″